How do you practice Python?

[Ant]

> In our field, we don't always get to program in the language we'd like

For sure!

> to program. So... how do you practice Python in this case? Say you're
> doing J2EE right now. How do you practice Python to keep your skills
> sharp?

Well, we have to use J2EE at work. I keep my Python skills going by
playing the puzzles like the PythonChallenge you mentioned and the
Maths Challenge Euler project
(http://mathschallenge.net/index.php?section=project)

They are good for getting the Python idioms and shortcuts nailed, such
as list comprehensions, generators etc that aren't available in Java.

I also use Python almost exclusively at home for my website, Wiki,
Photo gallery etc - all of which I hand rolled partly for the
experience, and partly to get them exactly the way I want them :-)

At work I use Python for all my scripting needs. I also use it to
automate running through our web-applications for test purposes, using
a framework I wrote around the urllib2 module.

So, there are plenty of opportunities to use it if you keep your eyes
open.

Unfortunately for me, using Python so much has made using J2EE very
painful. Not so good seeing as it's my day job!